NEWS RELEASE
FALSTAFF FAMILY CENTRE
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For the third year, the Falstaff Family Centre (FFC) will be hosting events during Truth and Reconciliation Week leading up to The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.
These events are intended to help foster learning, awareness, inclusivity, as well as an understanding of the impact of colonialism, including the legacy of residential schools.
The events are presented in collaboration with Kaswentha Two Row Now, a Huron-Perth group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members. The group focuses on cultural programs promoting social connectedness and belonging for Indigenous students and families, awareness-raising events and Teaching Circles for all who have an interest in learning about Indigenous cultural ways.
Two exhibits from the Indigenous-led Legacy of Hope Foundation, A National Crime: Canada's Indian Residential School System and Remembering, Honouring and the Way Forward: 10 Years After the Residential School Apology, will be on display in the FFC Community Room from Monday, Sept. 23 to Friday, Sept. 27 between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. and throughout the day Monday, Sept. 30. The exhibitions are supported by Stratford Perth Community Foundation.
During exhibit hours, Orange T-shirts will also be for sale by Winona Sands of Howling Moon Aboriginal Arts, a member of Walpole Island First Nation.
On Monday, Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a series of activities will honour the day, beginning early in the morning on the FFC grounds, or in the Community Room in the event of inclement weather.
7:30 a.m. – Sunrise Ceremony with Oneida First Nation elder and a member of the Turtle Clan, Patsy Day. (Patsy Day offers Grandmother Moon Teachings in the area, providing insights into the natural world and the human spirit.)
7:30 to noon – Indigenous Teachings and Sacred Fire with Patsy Day, Matthew Maynard and Day and Ojibway artist and flautist Jeffrey Red George. Youth readings with educator and artist Jacinthe Roy.
2:30 and 7 p.m. – NFB film WaaPake (meaning ‘Tomorrow’) will be shown in the Community Room. The NFB describes the film this way: “For generations, the suffering of residential school survivors has radiated outward, impacting Indigenous families and communities. Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin’s deeply personal documentary moves beyond intergenerational trauma, with an invitation to unravel the tangled threads of silence and unite in collective freedom and power.”
4 and 5 p.m. – Aspens Ojibwe Spirit Horses presented by caretakers Sallianne and Dale Patch and children’s story reading by educator and artist Jacinthe Roy. These horses were essential to Ojibwe people for transportation, hunting, ceremonial purposes and survival. The deep connection was eventually severed when Colonizers saw the horses as a nuisance and by the 1970s they were hunted almost to extinction.
6 p.m. – Solidarity Walk around the river for the public led by Falstaff Family Centre Owner/Director Loreena McKennitt.
Private group viewings of The Legacy of Hope Foundation exhibitions and the NFB film can be arranged by contacting the centre at [email protected] or 519-273-3876.
During Truth and Reconciliation Week people are also invited to join – from the comfort of their own homes – 50-minute daily webinars at 1 p.m., called Lunch and Learns. Consisting of a moderator and panelists, they’re presented by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and described as “an immersive experience to UN-learn the myths of colonial history in Canada.”
“The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) have called upon all Canadians to continue to learn more about the devastating consequences of the colonization of Indigenous peoples,” says McKennitt. “Like many others around the world, we at the Falstaff Family Centre are not only committed to learning more, but to translating that learning into action within our everyday lives and sharing that learning with others in the community. I sincerely hope the citizens of Stratford and area will find time to take in the activities, the film and displays as we reflect on this dark aspect of Canadian history."
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